Bristol Says It's Serious About Reducing Blight

BRISTOL — The owner of a badly deteriorated Gridley Street property not only lost his home to city bulldozers last winter, but has had to pay nearly $85,000 in lien fees, code enforcement costs, back taxes and interest.

That's evidence that the city is getting steadily more serious about its code enforcement work, Mayor Ken Cockayne and council member Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said.

"The three-family house was the subject of numerous abatement and code violations over time," Cockayne said in a statement. He noted that city officials tried repeatedly to work cooperatively with the owner of the building, but ultimately had to have it razed in February.

"The tenants were relocated and the structure was then demolished," he said.

Eight months later, the tax office received a payment of $84,918 to cover overdue taxes, liens, the cost of demolition and interest.

"Code enforcement has many moving pieces. Receiving this payment is a great example of all those pieces coming together and what the innovative policies we have in place should result in, thanks to the coordinated effort among city departments," said Zoppo-Sassu, who chairs the code enforcement committee.

Cockayne and Zoppo-Sassu often clash over policy matters in the city, but both are making sure the public hears about Bristol's stepped-up anti-blight campaign.

Cockayne has ordered several buildings demolished, and in some cases, the absentee landlords or banks that own the properties have stepped in to make long-overdue repairs rather than see their investment knocked down.

Zoppo-Sassu was the most outspoken advocate for tougher code enforcement when she served on the council about 10 years ago. At the time, a few city leaders acknowledged that sections of the city were starting to look shabby, which they said lowered nearby property values and attracted undesirable tenants.

Zoppo-Sassu led a serious campaign to stop blight, but got only moderate to lukewarm encouragement during the terms of mayors Gerard Couture and William Stortz. She has said Art Ward, a political nemesis, all but gave up on code enforcement when he succeeded Stortz as mayor.

Cockayne took office last November after a campaign where Democrats said he shared responsibility for worsening conditions in the West End because he served on the council during Ward's terms. Cockayne insisted he would take a strong stance against blight if elected mayor, and since then has pushed hard to get derelict buildings in the West End, Chippens Hill and elsewhere rehabilitated or demolished.

The code enforcement panel includes representatives from 14 city departments who work to enforce Bristol's property maintenance code through team inspections and enforcement actions against repeat violators.

City leaders say the goal isn't punitive. They would prefer that owners of troubled properties undertake cleanups and repairs promptly after getting negative inspection reports.